Osceola County residents fed up with hundreds of dollars in parking tickets

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Residents of an Osceola County neighborhood said they awoke to hundreds of dollars' worth of parking tickets.

They said a change in a county ordinance practically bankrupted them.

The change drove people to rip up their grass and pave their front yards.

The ordinance forbids on-street parking after 11 p.m. and parking in grass, so those who own several cars must park elsewhere or continue to be ticketed.

When the sun sets in Crescent Lakes, there's a mad dash to move cars.

Resident Rachel Homer said she and her friends are having to strategize against something many cannot afford -- tickets handed out by code enforcement.

"I had visitors here from New Jersey -- my son and my brother. We went outside that night and we had $300 worth of parking tickets," resident Barbara Rella said.

Resident Steven Johnson wasn't pleased either.

"I was pissed off, because I didn't know why I got the ticket," he said.

For many, the ordinance came as a surprise. They fault their local CFD -- similar to an HOA -- for poor communication.

Channel 9 learned their CFD fees are paying off-duty code enforcement officers to patrol the neighborhood.

"It's money from us," Rella said.

"Yeah, we're paying the people (who are) giving us the tickets," Johnson said.

The CFD president told Channel 9 Friday that the organization asked the county to change the ordinance after more than 100 residents complained of clogged roads.

He said the CFD was already paying for code enforcement patrols in years past and said community parking lots are available for overnight overflows.

"They told us if we didn't like it, 'Sell your cars or move out,'" Homer said.

She said many residents have backed a petition aimed at repealing the ordinance to prevent future parking tickets from being issued.

It will eventually have to be presented to county officials, but in the meantime, the residents are appealing their tickets. Their date with code enforcement is scheduled for next month.

Cox Media Group